New Joiners - People #500

I like this just for its boldness... often portraits can be tedious or at least 'expected'. This is neither of those things and while it's not technically perfect, it is arresting. I love the angle that it's shot from and whilst I wouldn't want every portrait to look like this it's certainly eye catching. I'm reminded of the Constructivism of Alexander Rodchenko - the early Soviet photographer who attempted to 'subvert the bourgeois gaze' by shooting things from odd angles - check out his image, 'Pioneer with a trumpet' from 1930 to see what I mean.

I like this a lot - presumably one large light camera left aping the window light and naturalism of Caravaggio's early baroque - his chiaroscuro of light and shade. There is even sufficient (just) light enough to illuminate the back of the models' neck (reflector?). The light is just enough to rake across the props to give definition although the body of the casket(?) might do with just a touch more exposure - but that is being overly picky - this is a cracking studio shot

Nicely done. Sensitively framed and exposed. I like the soft light on the face and hands and I like the splash of yellow from the flower. What is particularly pleasing is how the hair delineates the face from the wall. I think the shadows are a bit thick however and there's a lot of fall-off in the detail behind her - but this is a really nice effort.

Very nicely done. The framing here is great with the obvious sunburst shot through the skater - but the curve of the bank is also lovely and seems to lead the eye upwards. Excellent hand gesture frozen too. Always tricky to shoot into the sun but this is a good example of it working well.

This is well seen - the two different stories colliding as you say ... but the image remains confusing. I think that has something deeper to do with the limitations of what photography can do. Sometimes we might anticipate an incongruous situation - like the bride and groom walking the streets - and be ready to photograph what happens. For that to work, a decent amount of forethought, practice and not a little luck is needed. This isn't the best image I've seen but the important take-away (which is more important) is that you've seen it and reacted. Thinking about what you want from an image and making that happen is key - as is practice... so keep pushing and the next time you sense an image coming together, you'll be ready!

I like this a lot - I like the rather creepy backdrop of the branches and I like the pose but overall - despite your intention, it's a bit too dark to make it do what you want it to. I think the obvious way to make this more successful is to actually introduce artificial light like flash that exposes the model correctly and then underexposes the background by a stop or two to make it darker. 'Fill flash' is a little misunderstood but once you get the idea of balancing daylight clear, it's like riding a bike - it stays with you. Have a try and see what you come up with.

Nice effort, however in trying to make the figure moody and dramatic, you've almost completely obscured his bottom half. The drama comes only from the white of the blazer over which with its white side towards the window I suspect has been difficult to control highlights - hence the overall darkness. Sometimes with natural light we just have to go with what we have but my inclination here would have been to introduce artificial light (flash) outside of the window and added a very small light source either in front of the model or slightly to his left so as to pick out detail.

What this image has in spades is character and spontaneity. How to improve? Foregrounds and backgrounds are important in a harmonious image and elevate a snap into a photograph. Always good to 'grab' an image that reveals something about the subject but if we want to make a frame that means something more than just a personal moment (nothing wrong with that) it's always good to think about the final image and how we want it to look. Anyway, nicely done.

Dynamic and elegant - I like the pose and I like the framing. I like the dials on the wall and I like that the model's face is obscured so as to give a mysterious mood. However, sometimes when we're shooting and trying to 'balance' daylight, we have to be careful where we position things and here the window light (right) is stronger than any light coming left and so her body (in black costume) is in deep shade. My solution would be to stop all natural light camera left (see the hotspot on the wood wall) and introduce some minimal lighting from the direction to give some definition to her. That said, nice effort.

Well, for someone who is not good at people photos, this isn't a bad effort. Using mirrors have long been part of the armoury of photographers - and painters - from Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait to Alex Webb's Turkish barbershop, et al. They allow us to record not just what's in front of us but extraneous details of surrounds. This is a very natural and relaxed portrait - I like the distressed walls and that you're not centre frame. Play around with this idea more and maybe with more experimentation you'll make some more engaging images!

Really nicely done: I love the light/dark (Chiaroscuro) in the portrait and even more that the right eye has a catch-light in it so it pops from the frame. How to improve? Well, the highlights on the face and finger are almost blown so a more careful exposure reading (never trust the camera to do this for you as it will likely give an average) would have resulted in more subtle tonality. More, we have to be careful when we compose to make sure that the foreground and backgrounds are harmonious - and here, the line of the curtain (?) is a little distracting. That said, this is well seen and a really nice frame.

There IS a nice picture here - a lovely moment and a good composition but two things impair it. Firstly, exposure wise the camera has metered averagely and that means here that the shadows are washed out and overall the image is less impactful. Secondly - and related to the first, the background (the reflection from the car) is very bright and therefore distracting. A real shame, this had a great deal of potential. Keep pushing and think about background and foreground when you compose.

I really like this - as much for the colour as the simplicity. We certainly don't need to make portraits complicated to make them successful. The background and the framing of the face by the hair is a delight. For me however the hotspot on the woman's shoulder back draws the eye straight away as the brightest point. Sometimes a coat or anything that might make a shadow can be used as a shield against harsh sun and that might have made an excellent image into a real winner. Well done.

Nicely done. Good pose and the hair (and arms) frame the face and body well. The hair is pretty well delineated from the background and the shadows around the face are soft enough to give shape and definition. I'm presuming from the catchlight in the eyes just one decent sized soft box (high, model left) in which case you've managed a very good coverage. Lovely.

A lovely idea really well executed. I like that you've ignored the old dictum about never shooting into the sun and I like that you've used silhouettes and shadows to make this portrait. I wonder if we might make it even more impactful though... perhaps if we were a tiny bit lower, we might be able to capture a bit more of the shadow and if we moved an inch or so to the right it would be easier to delineate the figure furthest right. That said this is a nice effort. Well done.

This looks like a fashion shoot - and a really nicely framed and composed image. I love the pose - the fingers of the model's left hand poking through and I love the backdrop too. I wonder though if this might not be improved? I think that tonally the image is a little flat and I think that a small amount of lighting - either from an off camera flash - or even a reflector would put some sparkle into the figure and make him 'pop' from the background. Nice image though.